Unai Emery was derided by Arsenal fans, turned down Newcastle job and is now hoping to thwart Liverpool’s quadruple bid with Villarreal

Unai Emery’s reputation in English football is mixed at best, but this week he has the opportunity to prove his doubters wrong.

The Spaniard is currently head coach with Villarreal who face a crunch Champions League semi-final clash against a Liverpool side, who have their sights firmly set on a historic quadruple.

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Emery won the Europa League last season and is now through to the final four of the Champions League

Since moving to the Spanish side, Emery has been working tirelessly to repair the damage done during a frustrating spell in the Premier League with Arsenal, where his reputation as a fledgling coach in the game was dealt a pretty hefty blow with Perry Groves claiming that the club ‘went backwards’ under his leadership.

Emery was named as the man to succeed Arsene Wenger after 22 years in North London, a class act who would always be almost impossible to follow.

Upon being appointed, he was hailed by Stan Kroenke as ‘a proven winner’ and the man to ‘build on the platform’ created by Wenger, something that proved difficult to do.

Losing his first two matches in charge against Manchester City and Chelsea was not the ideal start, with the Gunners going on to miss out on a top four spot by a single point.

Arsenal did manage to reach the Europa League final, a competition that Emery has enjoyed huge success in having won it three times with Sevilla. However, Emery’s Arsenal suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in the 2019 final.

Big things were expected of Arsenal the following season with, Emery spending a club-record £72million on Nicolas Pepe. But the feeling of discontent among the Arsenal supporters was already building.

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Emery’s time with Arsenal did not end well after failing to impress fans of the North London side

His big opportunity at the Emirates Stadium came to an end in November 2019 when he was sacked after a run of seven matches without a win, much to the relief of the fans who had never truly warmed to a boss.

With fans in England writing Emery off as another boss who failed to make the step up to life in the Premier League, what’s happened since has gone some way to silencing the doubters.

Following an eight-month break from the game, Emery was handed the Villarreal job, where he aspired to prove a point to the football world by showing that he was no busted flush.

To say that he made a prompt impression is an understatement, breaking the club’s unbeaten record by guiding the Spanish side to a run of 18 matches without defeat.

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Emery was named as Villarreal boss in the summer of 2020

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Emery is renowned for cutting an animated figure on the touchline

As well as finishing in seventh place in La Liga, Emery took the Europa League by storm once again by reaching the showpiece event after defeating former employers Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate in the semis to set up a clash with Manchester United in the final.

Despite being underdogs for that match, Villarreal won the Europa League in Gdansk on penalties to seal a fourth winners’ medal in the competition for Emery.

With the reputation of Europa League specialists, Emery emerged as the top contender to be named as Newcastle boss following the £300million takeover from Saudi Arabia’s PIF.

However, despite appearing close to completing a move to St James’ Park, a late U-turn saw the Spaniard choose to stick with Villarreal.

Few knew how Emery and Villarreal would fare in the Champions League this term, but it’s safe to say that they adapted to life at the higher level with ease after emerging from a tricky group where they faced Manchester United, Atalanta and Young Boys, before overcoming European heavyweights Juventus and Bayern Munich en the route to the final four.

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Unai Emery bested Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in Gdansk to win his fourth Europa League trophy last season

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Emery will now be hoping to mastermind another upset in the Champions League as Villarreal look to beat Liverpool to a spot in the final

While a clash with Liverpool will see Jurgen Klopp’s side named undoubted favourite for the tie over two legs, Emery’s record in recent years – not to mention the club’s run of results to reach this stage of the competition – will ensure that the 50-year-old is quietly confident of pulling off a shock against the Reds.

Klopp was full of praise for his opposite number ahead of the match, describing him as ‘world class’ and ‘detail-obsessed’, something that has served the ex-Arsenal boss well on the continent this year.

Emery has nothing to prove given his success both pre and post-Arsenal, but victory over a hugely impressive Liverpool side will surely have Gunners’ fans wondering why it was them who failed to get the best from one of Europe’s most decorated coaches in recent years.

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